Proverbs 11:23
The desire of the righteous is only good:
But the expectation of the wicked is wrath.
We have already encountered a similar proverb (10:28). Why would our king repeat himself? I am not in his mind to be able to rationalize his reasons, which must have certainly been more than valid; I just know that in the Bible, when something is repeated twice, each mention bears the function of a witness to establish the word as sure. I would say also that he was influenced by the attitude of his father.
David, this king’s father, was a man who had seen war for most of its life. In His strategy, David was very particular in one thing: because of his love and dedication to God, he was very certain of his cause, and because he was very certain of his cause, he knew that no matter what the odds were, he would win. This is very important in any war and any conflict. To win, we must be very sure of our cause and that we are on the side of God’s will. When we are sure that we are in the camp of God’s side and God’s will (not believing that we have God on our side, but rather being on His side), we then know what befalls anyone who tries to malign and hurt us. We can safely determine that no matter how long it takes, they will not get away with it, and that their expectation is the wrath of God.
In the face of conflict with the opponents of God’s way, we are often faced our personal feelings of hatred and sense of justice, but none of these will do. God’s commandments even forbid us rejoicing and boasting at the sight of the demise of our enemies. Our sole assurance and strength is the knowledge that those who in their ignorance dare to touch us, the apple of His eye, are destined to the wrath of God; we should even mourn for it. We should even mourn for it because in paraphrasing the apostle Paul we could say, ‘By the grace of Yahweh, go we!’
God’s children have always had many enemies and things are not ready to change. Let us therefore, like our kingly author, forbid ourselves the luxury of indulging in hatred, frustration and self-righteousness. Let us, even in mourning, know that our enemies are not really our enemies; they are the enemies of the Most High, of the Almighty El-Shaddai.
The desire of the righteous is only good:
But the expectation of the wicked is wrath.
We have already encountered a similar proverb (10:28). Why would our king repeat himself? I am not in his mind to be able to rationalize his reasons, which must have certainly been more than valid; I just know that in the Bible, when something is repeated twice, each mention bears the function of a witness to establish the word as sure. I would say also that he was influenced by the attitude of his father.
David, this king’s father, was a man who had seen war for most of its life. In His strategy, David was very particular in one thing: because of his love and dedication to God, he was very certain of his cause, and because he was very certain of his cause, he knew that no matter what the odds were, he would win. This is very important in any war and any conflict. To win, we must be very sure of our cause and that we are on the side of God’s will. When we are sure that we are in the camp of God’s side and God’s will (not believing that we have God on our side, but rather being on His side), we then know what befalls anyone who tries to malign and hurt us. We can safely determine that no matter how long it takes, they will not get away with it, and that their expectation is the wrath of God.
In the face of conflict with the opponents of God’s way, we are often faced our personal feelings of hatred and sense of justice, but none of these will do. God’s commandments even forbid us rejoicing and boasting at the sight of the demise of our enemies. Our sole assurance and strength is the knowledge that those who in their ignorance dare to touch us, the apple of His eye, are destined to the wrath of God; we should even mourn for it. We should even mourn for it because in paraphrasing the apostle Paul we could say, ‘By the grace of Yahweh, go we!’
God’s children have always had many enemies and things are not ready to change. Let us therefore, like our kingly author, forbid ourselves the luxury of indulging in hatred, frustration and self-righteousness. Let us, even in mourning, know that our enemies are not really our enemies; they are the enemies of the Most High, of the Almighty El-Shaddai.
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